another to the devil, Muboya; after which they drown their grief with intoxicating beverages: but, if they do not hear the voices of their friends, they express their joy by dances and festivals. In all this, there is but one circumstance that creates surprise; it is, that the Indian priests have not availed themselves of such credulity to augment their revenues. Many Indians, though otherwise converted to Christianity, have not ceased to believe, that to be in the cave of Guacharo is synonymous with dying.

"Thus, in the majestic forests of South America, as in the ancient civilization of Hindoostan; under the harsh climates of the north of Europe and Canada, as in the burning regions of Africa; in all parts, men of every colour are distinguished from other animals by this irresistible foreboding of a future life, in which an Omnipotent Being recompenses the good and punishes evil doers. Whatever may be the modifications, differences, or absurdities, with which imagination, ignorance, and greedy imposture, have enveloped this belief, it appears to be one of the strongest moral proofs of the identity of our species, and to be a natural consequence of reflection."Sketches of South America.

We will now beg the attention of our readers, while we relate some particulars respecting THE SNOW GROTTO.--This is an excavation made by the waters on the side of Mount Etna, by making their way under the layers of lava, and carrying away the bed of pozzolano below them. It occurred to the proprie tor, that this place was very suitable for a magazine of snow; for in Sicily, at Naples, and particularly at Malta, they are obliged, for want of ice, to make use of snow for cooling their wine, sherbet, and other liquors, and for making sweetmeats. This grotto was hired, or bought, by the knights of Malta, who having neither ice nor snow on the burning rock which they inhabit, have hired several caverns on Etna, into which, people whom they employ, collect and preserve quantities of snow, to be sent to Malta when needed. This grotto has therefore been repaired within, at the expense of the order; flights of steps are cut into it, as well as two openings from above, through which they throw in the snow, and by means of which the grotto is enlightened. Above the grotto they have also levelled a piece of ground of considerable extent: this they have inclosed with thick and lofty walls, so that when the winds, which at this elevation blow with great violence, carry the snow from the higher parts of the mountain, and deposit it in this inclosure, it is retained and amassed by the walls. The people then remove it into the grotto, through the two openings; and it is there laid up and preserved in such a manner as to resist the force of the summer heats, as

the layers of lava, with which the grotto is arched above, prevent them from making any impression.

When the season for exporting the snow comes on, it is put into large bags, into which it is pressed as closely as possible; it is then carried by men out of the grotto, and laid upon mules, which convey it to the shore, where small vessels are waiting to carry it away. But before those lumps. of snow are put into bags, they are wrapped in fresh leaves; so that while they are conveyed from the grotto to the shore, the leaves may prevent the rays of the sun from making any impression upon them.

The Sicilians carry on a considerable trade in snow, which affords employment to some thousands of men, horses, and mules. They have magazines of it on the summits of their loftiest mountains, from which they distribute it through all their cities, towns, and houses; for every person in the island makes use of the snow. They consider the practice of cooling their liquors as absolutely necessary for the preservation of health; and in a climate, the heat of which is constantly relaxing the fibres, cooling liquors, by communicating a proper tone to the fibres of the stomach, must greatly strengthen them for the performance of their functions. In this climate a scarcity of snow is no less dreaded than a scarcity of corn, wine, or oil. We are informed by a gentleman who was at Syracuse in 1777, when there was a scarcity of snow, that the people of the town learned that a small vessel laden with that article was passing the coast: without a moment's deliberation, they ran in a body to the shore, and demanded her cargo; which when the crew refused to deliver up, the Syracusans attacked and took, though with the loss of several men.

The next object that claims our regard is THE CAVE OF FINGAL, or AN-UA-VINE, IN THE ISLAND OF STAFFA. From Faujas St. Fond's Travels in England, Scotland, and the Hebrides.

"This superb and magnificent monument of a grand subterraneous combustion, the date of which has been lost in the lapse of ages, presents an appearance of order and regularity so wonderful, that it is difficult for the coldest observer, and a person the least sensible to the phenomena which relate to the convulsions of the globe, not to be singularly astonished by this prodigy, which may be considered as a kind of natural palace.

"To shelter myself from all critical observation on the emotions which I experienced while contemplating the most extraordinary of any cavern known, I shall borrow the expressions of him who first described it. Those who are acquainted with the character of this illustrious naturalist,

Sir Joseph Banks, will not be apt to accuse him of being liable to be hurried away by the force of a too ardent imagination; but the sensation which he felt at the view of this magnificent scene was such, that it was impossible to escape a degree of just enthusiasm.

The impatience which every body felt to see the wonders we have heard so largely described, prevented our morning's rest; every one was up and in motion before the break of day, and with the first light arrived at the south-west part of the island, the seat of the most remarkable pillars. We were no sooner arrived at this place, than we were struck with a scene of magnificence which exceeded our expectation, though formed as we thought upon the most sanguine foundations The whole of that end of the island is supported by ranges of natural pillars, mostly above fifty feet high, standing in natural colonnades, according as the bays or points of land formed themselves, upon a firm basis of solid shapeless masses of rock. In a short time we arrived at the month of the cave, the most magnificent, I suppose, that has ever been described by travellers.

The mind can hardly form an idea of any thing more magnificent than such a space, supported on each side by ranges of columns, and roofed by the bottoms of those from which they have been broken, in order to form it, between the angles of which a yellow stalagmitic matter has exuded; this serves to define the angles precisely, and at the same time vary the colour with a great deal of elegance, and, to render it still more agreeable, the whole is lighted from without; so that the farthest extremity is very plainly seen from the outside, and the air within, being agitated by the flux and reflux of the tides, is perfectly dry and wholesome, entirely free from the vapours with which natural caverns in general abound."

The following description of the same place by Mr. Troil, is also worthy of our notice :

"How splendid (says this prelate) do the porticos of the ancients appear in our eyes, from the ostentatious magnificence of the descriptions we have received of them! and with what admiration are we seized, on seeing even the colonnades of our modern edifices! but when we behold the cave of Fingal, formed by nature in the isle of Staffa, it is no longer possible to make a comparison, and we are forced to acknowledge that this piece of architecture, executed by nature, far surpasses that of the Louvre, that of St. Peter at Rome, and even what remains of Palmira and Pestum, and all that the genius, the taste, and the luxury of the Greeks, were ever capable of inventing."-Letters on Iceland.

Such also was the impression made by the cave of Fingal, on Sir Joseph Banks, and on the Bishop of Linckœping.—

"I have seen many ancient volcanoes, and have given descriptions of several superb basaltic causeways and delightful caverns in the midst of lavas; but I have never found any thing which comes near this, or can bear any comparison with it, either for the admirable regularity of the columns, the height of the arch, the situation, the forms, the elegance of this production of nature, or for its resemblance to the masterpieces of art, though this had no share in its construction. It is therefore not at all surprising that tradition should

have made it the abode of a hero.

"This amazing monument of nature is thirty-five feet wide at the entrance, fifty-six feet high, and a hundred and forty feet long.

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The upright columns which compose the frontispiece, are of the most perfect regularity. Their height, to the beginning of the curvature, is forty-five feet.

"The arch is composed of two unequal segments of a circle, which form a sort of natural pediment.

"The mass which crowns, or rather which forms the roof, is twenty feet thick in the lowest part. It consists of small prisms, more or less regular, inclining in all directions, closely united and cemented underneath, and in the joints, with a yellowish white calcareous matter, and some zeolitic infiltrations, which give this fine ceiling the appearance of mozaic work.

"The sea reaches to the very extremity of the cave. It is fifteen feet deep at the mouth; and its waves, incessantly agitated, beat with great noise against the bottom and walls of the cavern, and every where break into foam. The light also penetrates through its whole length, diminishing gradually inwards, and exhibiting the most wonderful varieties of colour.

"The right side of the entrance presents, on its exterior part, a vast amphitheatre, formed of different ranges of large truncated prisms, the top of which may be easily walked on. Several of these prisms are jointed, that is, concave on the one side, and convex on the other; and some of them are divided by simple transverse intersections.

"These prisms, consisting of a very durable and pure black basaltes, are from one to three feet in diameter. Their forms are triangular, tetrapedral, pentagonal, and hexagonal; and some of them have seven or eight sides. I saw several large prisms, on the truncatures of which are distinctly traced the outlines of a number of smaller prisms; that is, these prisms are formed of a basaltes, which has a tendency to subdivide itself likewise into prisms. I had before observed the same phenomenon in the basaltic prisms of Vivarais.

"The cave can be entered only by proceeding along the plat

form on the right side, which I have mentioned above. But the way grows very narrow and difficult as it advances; for this sort of interior gallery, raised about fifteen feet above the level of the sea, is formed entirely of truncated perpendicular prisms of a greater or less height, between which considerable address is necessary to choose one's steps, the passages being so strait and so slippery, owing to the droppings from the roof, that I took the very prudent resolution, suggested by our two guides, to proceed barefooted, and take advantage of their assistance, especially in a particular place, where I had room only to plant one foot, whilst I clung with my right hand to a large prism to support myself, and held the hand of one of the guides by the other. This difficult operation took place at the darkest part of the cave; and one half of the body was at the time suspended over an abyss, where the sea dashed itself into a cloud of foam.

"I was desirous of penetrating to the farthest extremity, and I accomplished my purpose, though not without considerable difficulty and danger. I more than once found my attention distracted from the observations which I was happy to have an opportunity of making, to the thought of how I should get back again.

"As I drew near to the bottom of the cave, the bold balcony, on which I walked, expanded into a large sloping space, composed of thousands of broken vertical columns. The bottom was bounded by a compact range of pillars of an unequal height, and resembling the front of an organ."

It is worthy of remark, that at the time when Mr. Troil visited the cave, the sea, by one of those uncommon chances which do not happen once in ten years, was so calm, that it permitted him to enter with a boat.

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At the very bottom of the cave, (says he,) and a little above the surface of the water, there is a kind of small cave, which sends forth a very agreeable noise every time that the water rushes into it."-Letters on Iceland.

"As the sea was far from being completely still when I visited it, I heard a noise of a very different nature every time that the waves, in a rapid succession, broke against its bottom. This sound resembled that which is produced by striking a large hard body with great weight and force against another hard body in a subterraneous cavity. The shock was so violent, that it was heard at some distance, and the whole cavern seemed to shake with it. Being close to the place whence the sound issued, and where the water is not so deep, upon the retreat of the wave, I endeavoured to discover the cause of this terrible collision. I soon observed, that, a little below the basis which supported the organ-fronted colonnade, there was an aperture which formed the outlet of a hollow, or per